The Anointing Oil

It shall come to pass in that day that his burden will be taken away from your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck, and the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil. Isaiah 10:27

During the reign of King Hezekiah, Jerusalem suffered from heavy taxation imposed by Sennacherib, the Assyrian king. Instead of relying on his own military strength, Hezekiah sought the Lord for deliverance from that evil oppression. The Bible tells of a miraculous defeat of the Assyrians by the angel of the LORD (2 Kin. 19:35-36). Isaiah says the enemy was destroyed because of the anointing.

Assyria is like a picture of the devil oppressing people’s lives. What will it take to break the yoke of the devil? It is the anointing of God. Jesus cast out demons “with the finger of God” (Luke 11:20) and “by the Spirit of God” (Matt. 12:28). Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power, and He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil (Acts 10:38). Jesus depended on the anointing of the Holy Spirit for ministry. And that same anointing of the Holy Spirit is now abiding in Jesus’ believers (1 John 2:27). Under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, we can break the power of the devil and enforce the victory of the cross.

As such, if we depend on the anointing and yield ourselves to the Holy Spirit more and more, we will find rest in God. We will find success in what we do and, at the same time, there will be no tension, stress or anxiety because the anointing of God does the work! The anointing is a tangible, spiritual substance. In the story of the woman with the issue of blood, it was described that Jesus felt power (the anointing) going out of Him. The woman simultaneously felt the anointing come into her and she was completely healed (Mark 5:30). The anointing is something that is very spiritual. Our bodies are temples that house the Holy Spirit and the power of God. The anointing permeates our bodies with life, our emotions with joy and peace, our minds with understanding and our spirit with inspiration. The anointing lives within the cells of our body.

The anointing oil also revives and refreshes our spirit. In biblical times, when guests arrive at the home of their host after a long journey under the sun, they would be greeted with a basin of water to wash their hands and feet. Then they would be anointed with fresh aromatic oil, which revitalizes them. This is exactly what happens when we receive the Holy Spirit at conversion. Acts 3:19 says, “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.” The word “refreshing” (Gr. anapsuxis) literally means “a recovery of breath, or a revival.” So in the presence of the Lord, the anointing refreshes and revives us. That is why it is so important that we constantly experience the presence of God everyday in our lives. Let us have a fresh encounter with the Lord so that the anointing comes upon us afresh.